Beginning in September 2001, the Universities of Aberdeen and Dundee will collaborate to offer what is believed to be the first MSc in Lean Construction Project Management in the world.
The course will build on the highly successful MSc programme in Engineering Project Management run by the Engineering Department of Aberdeen University by adding a new emphasis on “lean thinking”.
“Lean thinking” principles first came to prominence in the 1980’s, when Toyota applied them to build cars in half the time, with half the defects, using half the space of their American rivals.
For the past seven years the Construction Management Research Unit at Dundee University have been studying how lean principles can be tailored to the construction industry. Its work has shown how productivity can be increased by 20% and how costs can be reduced by 7½%, duration by 20% and cost-related faults by 50%.
According to Dr Paul Davidson, the Course Co-Director from Aberdeen University, the time is now ripe to offer the benefits of this thinking to the Scottish Construction Industry through a proven high quality MSc course. The two universities have a track record of collaborating in MSc teaching and offering this course jointly helps to widen its geographical spread.
Designed specifically with practising engineers in mind, it is taught only on every third weekend. Launch seminars are being held for interested parties on the evenings of the 20th and 21st of June at Dundee and Aberdeen Universities, respectively. Speakers will include Prof Malcolm Horner of Dundee University, Bob Robinson of British Aerospace, and Richard Holti of the Tavistock Institute.
Further Information:
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.